npower renewables1 is currently investigating the possibility of three medium-scale
wind farms at:
The projects were announced by npower renewables this February during a Regional Launch
event held at the New and Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth. At the event, npower renewables
stated its commitment to thorough and detailed consultation in relation to the three projects,
and underlined the importance of feedback from local people in helping to finalise the design
proposals for the wind farms.
Clare Wilson, npower renewables’ development manager for the North of England, said,
“npower renewables has over 13 years’ experience in the development and operation of
wind farms, therefore we fully understand the need to engage with the communities local
to our wind energy schemes. We are keen to ensure that a full and transparent public
consultation takes place for each of our Northumberland projects, and following discussions
with homes nearest to the proposed wind farms we will be extending the local consultation
to a wider audience.”
The company will shortly be distributing information leaflets to homes in the vicinity
of each of the proposed sites. The mailshots to residents living near the Middlemoor
and Toft Hill sites will be followed by public exhibitions in early April5.
Public exhibitions for the Kiln Pit Hill project (which is at an earlier stage of development)
will be held in the summer, further details of which will be publicised nearer the time.
Clare Wilson said, “We are very keen to listen to the views and suggestions of people living
close to the proposed sites. Local consultation is a very important part of the development
of these projects, since the feedback that we receive contributes to the final designs of the
proposed wind farms.”
The local consultation will take place in parallel with a wide range of detailed environmental
studies on and around the proposed sites to assess any possible impacts the projects may have
on their local environment. No application to build and operate any of the three wind farms
will be made until the relevant independent environmental assessments and local consultations
have been completed.
Together the three wind farms could have a combined maximum output of around 115 megawatts.
This amount of installed capacity would generate enough clean electricity each year to supply
the average needs of some 60,000 homes (averaged out across the year and taking into account
times of low wind speed). This clean generation would, in addition, prevent the annual release
of around 225,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas contributing to global
warming and climate change.
Clare Wilson continued, “We hope that as many local people as possible will take the
opportunity to visit the public exhibitions for the three projects. Visitors will be
able to gather further information about the proposed wind farms and the environmental
studies taking place, view computer-generated images to show how the wind farms could
look from local viewpoints, and discuss the projects with npower renewables staff.”
Each project lays within an area identified in the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy
of the North East Assembly as appropriate for a medium-sized wind farm. Northumberland
County Council have endorsed these areas as having the potential for medium-scale wind
development in their recently adopted Structure Plan (February 2005).
The Middlemoor, Toft Hill and Kiln Pit Hill projects would make a significant contribution
towards meeting the Assembly’s emerging renewable energy target for the North East region.
With a combined installed electrical capacity of some 115 megawatts, the three wind farms
could together provide some 30% of the region’s 2010 installed renewable energy target.
From Tuesday 22nd March, information about the Northumberland sites will also be posted
at www.npower-renewables.com.
For further information contact:
- Clare Wilson, North of England Development Manager, npower renewables,
Tel: 01833 69 59 80
- Sara Alan-Smith, PR Officer, npower renewables,
Tel: 01189 59 24 40
Editors Notes
- npower renewables is a specialist subsidiary of one of the UK’s leading
integrated energy companies, RWE npower, and is a leading renewable energy
developer and operator. The company is dedicated to generating electricity
using sustainable environmentally-friendly resources, and is currently
developing the natural power of wind, hydro and co-firing biomass as significant
sources of power for the UK’s present and future electricity needs.
In November 2003, npower renewables’ sister company, electricity retailer “npower”,
and Greenpeace, announced the establishment of the npower Juice fund, in association
with the company’s green electricity product npower Juice. This fund is helping to
support the development of “new” renewable energy technologies such as wave and tidal.
- The proposed Middlemoor Wind Farm site is located near North Charlton, on pasture
land to the west of the A1 approximately 12 kilometres to the north of Alnwick. The proposal
could comprise up to 25 wind turbines with a combined maximum output of around 75 megawatts.
- The proposed Toft Hill Wind Farm site is located near the village of Grindon,
approximately 10 kilometres to the south west of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The proposal could
comprise up to 12 wind turbines with a combined maximum output of around 24 megawatts.
- The proposed Kiln Pit Hill Wind Farm site is located on land to the east of the A68,
approximately 1 kilometre south-east of Kiln Pit Hill. The proposal could comprise up to
8 wind turbines with a combined maximum output of around 15 megawatts.
Press Release
